“You have some scratches, bruises, and you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for coming out there to get me. I’m Zandy. You are?”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m Smiley. You work for NSO. You are one of ours.” He glanced down and suddenly he grabbed her shirt with both hands.

She lowered her chin to watch him pull both ends of her torn shirt together. Her bra had been showing…and a lot of cleavage. That was the least of her worries and she refused to be embarrassed. Those assholes who had dragged her out of the van had destroyed her clothing in the process. He crouched down a little to stare into her eyes again, looking concerned.

“Did you hit your head? Are you in any pain? Your knee is bleeding badly. We are taking you to Medical immediately as soon as a Jeep arrives. I’ll personally escort you there.”

She avoided glancing down at her right leg. The sight of blood wasn’t her favorite and knowing it was hers only made it worse. It hurt a lot but she didn’t want to be a crybaby about it. “My head is fine.”

Richard suddenly stepped next to the officer and she was happy to see him. He looked a little worse for wear but unhurt.

“Are you all right, Zandy? I tried to get to you but I couldn’t get my door open. They pulled you out of the back faster than I could say shit.”

“I’m a little dinged up but they dropped me once they got me outside.”

“Thank god.” Richard sounded and looked pretty shaken. “I thought they’d run off with you. I can’t believe they actually attacked the gates.” He studied her face. “Your cheek is bleeding. Did one of them hit you?”

“I think I bumped it on the side of your van. I couldn’t see anything but I found it with my face.” She refused to reach up to touch the throbbing spot, afraid it would be worse than it felt. She didn’t want to know. “It all happened so fast. All I could think to do was get under your van to hide and keep from being trampled.”

He reached out to touch her but the New Species officer blocked his hand and scooped her into his arms. “I’m taking you to Medical now.”

Zandy gave Richard a stunned look over Smiley’s shoulder before she was carried outside. Snow waited behind the wheel of the Jeep that had arrived and she was carefully placed in the passenger seat. The officer climbed into the backseat.

“Go.”

The Jeep took off quickly. Snow glanced at her as he drove. “Are you harmed, Zandy? We apologize for you being attacked.”

“It’s not your fault there are assholes in the world. I’m just a little banged up but I’ll be fine.”

Snow glanced from her to the road, then back. “They shot one of our males but he didn’t suffer any lasting effects. The vest stopped the bullet from piercing his skin. We got both males who opened fire on the NSO.”

“Good.” The memory of seeing that tarp hit Richard’s hood and those men standing up suddenly, holding those weapons, made her shiver. She had little doubt it wasn’t something she’d ever forget and it would probably be the source of many nightmares. She didn’t say it but knew if they’d fired at her and Richard, they’d have been easy targets strapped in their seats. “I’m glad you have them in custody.”

“They believed she was Jessie North,” Smiley added.

She hadn’t remembered those men yelling at her until that second. “Who is Jessie North?”

“Justice took her as a mate.” Snow concentrated on driving as he parked in front of a building with glass windows. “She’s human but looks nothing similar to you except you both have red hair. Didn’t you watch the news last night?”

“I missed that.”

“They say our kind are hard to tell apart.” Snow snorted. “It seems your kind can’t tell each other apart either. You don’t look anything like Jessie except for your small size and the long red hair. Her hair is much longer though and it is very red.”

Smiley jumped out of the back and scooped her into his arms before Snow could even turn off the engine. “Thank you. I have it from here.”

Zandy put her arms around his broad shoulders while he carried her inside the building once the automatic doors opened. A Dr. Harris waited inside for them with a New Species female at his side. The man was in his mid-thirties and introduced her to Midnight. The tall blue-eyed female smiled grimly.

“Bring her this way, Smiley.”

He carefully placed her on an exam table in one of the back rooms and hovered there until Dr. Harris walked in. “Thanks for bringing her. We’ve got it from here.”

The officer hesitated. “I need to stay with her.”

“We’re making her strip,” Midnight informed him. “I see your interest but approach her later.”

“It was an order to protect her.”

“Wait outside.” Midnight smiled. “Human females are shy about their bodies.”

He spun around and Zandy watched him leave. Midnight closed the door. “Males.” The woman shook her head. “Did he drool on you?”

“No.”

Dr. Harris laughed. “That was Smiley and he has a thing for humans.” He turned his back. “I won’t peek.”

Midnight pulled out a cloth gown and offered it. “You need to strip down to your panties if you wear any.”

It hurt to stand on her injured knee and the tall Species female kneeled down to help her remove her only shoe. The other one was lost. She had forgotten that since she’d been carried everywhere since her rescue. Midnight took her clothes and she put on the gown, leaving it open in the back.

“She’s decent, handsome.”

The doctor turned his head to grin at Midnight. “Thanks, gorgeous.”

Zandy was surprised at their exchange. The doctor had put on gloves and he pulled a stool closer to sit. He examined her bloodied knee when she took a seat on the exam table.

“He’s mine,” Midnight announced, pointing to the doctor. “The young one. Not his father. There are two Drs. Harris. Don’t get ideas about him.”

“I wouldn’t,” she managed to get out, stunned that the tall muscular nurse was dating the doctor. He wasn’t a bad-looking man and was fit but it was obvious his girlfriend could kick his ass.

The doctor chuckled. “Yeah. I’m hers.” He prodded Zandy’s injured knee. “You won’t need stitches but it needs to be cleaned. It’s going to hurt.”

Midnight got him what he needed and Zandy clenched her teeth while he worked on her knee until it was bandaged. He examined her chest where her shirt had been torn, found a scratch above her breast, and even prodded the bruise on her hip where she’d landed on the pavement after being dragged from the van.

“Any dizziness? Double vision? Nausea?” He blinded her with a penlight he flashed in both her eyes while studying the cut on her head. “What happened here?”

“No, no, and no.” She winced when he started to clean it. “It isn’t bad, is it? I was crawling and hit the side of a van.”

“It’s not bad,” he admitted. “This is going to sting.”

Shit.

* * * * *

Tiger was furious. “They attacked the gates?”

Timber nodded grimly. “They shot Torrent. He is pissed but fine. They tagged his vest hard enough to leave some bruising.”

Tiger’s gaze wandered around Security, watching his males hard at work, keeping an eye on everything with the cameras. “Has Justice and Homeland been informed?”

“Immediately. We had to warn them about potential attacks on Jessie. One of our human employees was attacked. The idiot humans thought she was Justice’s mate.”

“Why would they think one of our human employees was Jessie?”

“She has long red hair. She had left for lunch with a human male and they were returning when the idiots attacked the gate. Some of them saw her and assumed she was Jessie. They broke the windows of the van she was in and dragged her out. The smoke made them run and they dropped her. She will be fine. I ordered Smiley to stay with her. He escorted her to Medical for treatment. We have the shooters and driver who brought them here in custody. They have been prepared for transport to Homeland.”